Ball rolling machine



July 28, 1936. F. H. G. BRAND T ET 1. 2,048,917

BALL ROLLING MACHINE Filed Aug. 20, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet I49 [48 I32 [26 H7 INVENTOR. FoKKo H. G. BRANDT. BB}I;INJAMIN BA BOCKTING.

F G 1 ATTORNE;

July 28, 1936. F. H. e. BRANDT Er AL 2,048,917

BALL ROLLING MACHINE Filed Aug. 20, 1934 5 SheetsSheet 2 .22 8? 8. f: n so 51 I I n5 V '49., 10 I m I43 I58 I45 INVENTOR.

FOKKO H. G. BRANDT. BENJAMIN B. BOCKTING.

% ATTORNEY July 28, 1936.

F. H. G. BRANDT ET AL BALL ROLLING MACHINE Filed Aug. 20, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTO'R. FoKKo H. G. BRANDT. BENJAMIN B. BOCKTINVG.

ATTORNEY 4.0 machine.

EPatented duly Barr. aotnnse rename Fokko H. G.

Application Ant 2d,

8 Miami:

This invention relates to improvements in hell forming machines distinctly classed in the special rolling mill type and seeks to provide an efflcient and economical machine to produce large quantities of balls for various purposes.

An object of the present invention is to provide a machine that will feed bar stock therein measure the length of blank, shear, feed blank into center line of roller dies between the roller dies without the rolling and shearing forces of the roller dies acting thereon, rolling and shearing the rod into balls, said'roller dies arranged to continue rolling and perfecting the spherical shape of said balls, and means arranged to feed, hold and discharge the balls from the machine, the roller die bearings swing held in a singularly adjusted fixed position during the entire cycle of operation. Heretofore a machine has been invented to roll blanks into balls by manually feeding blanks to the roller dies but the roller dies are spread apart to receive the blank before rolling and the rolls are gradually moved together during the rolling operation. The greatest force in any rolling machine is the force required to hold the roller dies together during the reducing or rolling operation. The force to hold the roller dies togetheris usually several times greater than the rolling force required to turn theroller dies, and it can be easily seen that the prior machine with movable rolls during the rolling operation will consume at least severaltimes the power required to rollthe bar into balls in the present invention.

One of many objects of the present invention is to project every other cutting edge on the roller dies beyond the remaining cutting edges to eliminate polar or severing marks.

Another object of the present invention is to provide upper and lower frames to the ball rolling The lower bed frame receives the bearlugs for the roller die journals and connections for the upper frame. The upper frame has the feeding mechanism, shearing mechanism and adjusting means for the journal bearingsmounted 5 thereon and several bolts hold'the lower and upper frames together. When it is desired to remove or change the roller dies theseveral bolts are removed and the upper frame with its mechanisms mounted thereon is removed by an overhead craneieaving the lower bed frame, journal bearings, roll feeder and roller dies for easy acmeans so arranged that when the upper and lowandt, and %namin B. 4 Kansas City, Mo.

rest, a l at. 'zstnzz I (er. sc rs) er frame come together the journal bearings will automatically align themselves, there being only a slight adjustment required thereafter to take CClare of worn roller dies or different pairs of roller es. A still further object of the present invention comprises a frame, automatic means arranged on the frame to feed bar stock to the machine,- automatic means arranged on the frame to shear said Stock into blanks, automatic meanson the frame to shear and roll each blank into multiple balls, and means arranged to continue rolling and perfecting the spherical shape of said balls. With these and other objects in view the inventionfurther consists in many combinations and arrangements of new and old parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings,- described in the specifications, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a plan of the machine illustrating the fragment of a motor and gearing mechanism connected to the ball rolling machine by means of flexible shafts to the roller die shafts.

Figure 2 is an'enlarg'ed longitudinal view of the improved ball rolling machine in elevation illustrating more particularly the side feeding and shearing mechanism.

Figure 3 is an enlarged lateral broken fragmentary view through the ball rolling machine illustrating more particularly the feeding and shearing mechanism.

Figure 4 is an enlarged lateral broken fragmentary view through the ball rolling machine illustrating the cross-head and feed rod mechanism for feeding. the rod blank into the roller dies and extracting the balls. The feed rods being shown with the balls on center line of rolls.

Figure 5' is an enlarged fragmentary broke improved ball rolling Y head in the raised position receiving a rod to be fed to the roller dies. being shown in their corresponding positions.

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5 with more detail illustrating the frame and spring to return the crosshead to the upper position when the cam permits. The feed rods are shown with the rod blank in the center lineof the rolls, the rolls being shaped to receive the rod blank free from rolling and shearing forces. It is obvious that when the rolls rotate in the same direction that the rod will be sheared and shaped to form balls. V

Figure 'l is a view similar to Figure 5 illustrating the balls being discharged from the f ed rods.

The cam, lever and link the feed rolls. The shaft and frame being shown broken to illustrate.

Figure 10 is an enlarged view of the ratchet driving mechanism for driving the feed rolls. The shaft being shown broken to illustrate.

Figure 11 is a. still further enlarged broken fragmentary view of the cutting and rolling surfaces of the rolls. illustrating the shape and every other cutting edge projecting beyond the remaining cutting edges.

Figure 12 is a still further enlarged broken fragmentary view of the roller die adjustment between bearings.

The motor I is preferably connected to a standard gear reducer 2 by means of a coupling 3 to reduce the speed of the coupling 4 to where it can be conveniently transmitted to the pinion 5 through shaft 6, the shaft 6 being held in frame I by means of bearings 8. The pinion 5 is arranged to drive two gears 9 in the same direction which in turn are mounted on duplicate shafts I6 journaled in bearings II. A gear I2 drivenv from one of the gears 9 is mounted on the shaft I3 journaled in the bearings I4 on the frame 1.

Couplings I5 mounted on shafts I6 are bolted to flexible shafts I6 at l1 which in turn are bolted at 26 to couplings I8 mounted on roller die shaft trunnions I9. Coupling 26 mounted on shaft I3 drives shaft 2| which is connected to the cam shaft 22 through the coupling 28. The grooves 24 and 25 cut in the shafts 2I and 28 are arranged to cause the shafts to break at the grooves in case an over load is forced upon the roller dies 21. The short shafts 26 can easily be replaced by disconnecting couplings 28 and will prevent breakage on more expensive parts of the machinery. Likewise shaft 2I can be easily replaced by means of the couplings 26 and 23.

The lower bed frame consists of two box shaped rails 29 bolted to floor channel irons 36 at 3|, the channels usually being set in a concrete floor or base. A vertical square pocket 32 is located in rails 29 near each end thereof. and receives the vertical frame posts 33 bolted therein by bolts 34. The four posts 33 continue upward to the upper longitudinal frame members 35 and are preferably integral therewith. Two of the posts 33 are integrally connected together by means of the I beam shaped member 36 while the members 35 are integrally connected by box shaped cross members 31. and 38.

Between the upper frame members 35 and lower frame members 29 are bearing slide box segments 39-and 46 provided with bushings 46' and 41 having integral collars 42 and 93, the bearing box segments being held against outward movement by lips 44," and inward movement prevented by collars 42 and 43 bearing against the roller die shafts 45 arid roler die hubs 46. The roller die hubs bear against integral shaft collars 41 and are fitted in the bushings 46' and 4|.

Through the bearing box segments 39 are threaded adjusting screws 56 with lock nuts 5I to move the bushings 46' and collars 42 for the purpose of aligning the roller dies and fitting them against lateral movement. Longitudinal adjusting movements of the bearing box segments are made through the sloping sides 52 and 53, wedges 54 and 55, posts 33 and adjusting screws 56 with their lock nuts and grooves 58. The grooved portion 68 fits in the narrow portion of inverted T slots 68 while the lower end of the screws 56 fit the wide part of the slots. Grooves 66 and BI receive slide bars 62 and 63 integral with slides 64 and 56 respectively. 2

The upper crosshead 64 is bolted to the lower crosshead 65 by integral ears 66 and 61 respectively and bolts 68. The two crossheads are provided with feed rods 69 and 16 set screwed at 1] and 12 into holes bored in the crossheads. The feed rods project from the crossheads toward each other and pass between the roller dies 21,

there being space enough therebetween to freely receive blanks and move the typical blank 13 or 16 have their upper or feed ends 15 thereof sloping enough to cause the balls to feed to one side of the crosshead and discharge into a conveyor trough 16 leading from the machine. The upper crosshead 64 is slidably arranged between frame members 36' and is guided in place by integral guide bars 11 while the lower crosshead 65 is slidably arranged between frame members 29 and guided in place by integral guide bars 18. The floor or sub-base pit 19 is arranged to receive the projecting end of the lower crosshead, and the upper crosshead 64 is provided with integral ears 86 fitted with the lower end of the link bars 8| fulcrumed on bolts 82.

balls 14 with the crosshead. The lower feed rods The rocker. arms 83 and 83a are provided with bosses 84 and mounted on rocker shaft 85, the outer ends of the arms receive the upper fulcrumed ends of link bars 8| bolted at 86, the central outer portion of arm 83 being provided with integral guide bars 81 and shearing die 88 bolted at 89. Integral with and on the opposite side of bosses 84 are a pair of cam levers 96 provided withcam rollers 9| journaled on bolts 82. The rocker shaft is journaled in bearings 93 bolted at 94 and the bosses 84 bear against the inner edges thereof. A die 95 is set in one of the frame members 35 at 96 and held in place by bolts 91.

Shaft 22 is journaled in bearings 98 and 99 and has keyed thereon cams I66 bearing against the inner faces of bearings 98 and 99 and are held by keys I6I. These cams operate cam rollers, cam levers, rocker arms; shears and crossheads at predetermined degrees of a cycle of operation, the cam revolutions being the same as roller die revolutions. The cams I66 are each provided with a projecting tooth "3641 to cause the arms to lower the crosshead below center line of roller dies to discharge finished balls and at the same time shear the stock bars into blanks. Each cam is also provided with a recess mm: to cause the crosshead to raise above center line at roller dies and receive the blanks. On one end of shaft 22 is keyed a hub I62 of crank arm I63 and to the'side of the crank arm are two holes positioned at I64 to represent adjustment of the universal joint I shown connected to the position farthest from the shaft. The socket portion of the universal joint is integral with the socket portion of another universal joint I66 at the lower end of ratchet connecting rod I61 fulcrumed. at I68 in levers I69 pivoted on ratchet wheel H6. The levers I69 have adjusting holes III therein and a pawl H2 pivoted at II3 counter-weighted with integral arm H4.

The ratchet wheel I I6 is keyed on the shaft I I5 dom of movement is controlled by a friction band a frame I26 bolted to one upper frame member 35 and one lower frame member 29.

The friction feed rolls I21 and I28 are secured to the top of the shafts I29 and I30 respectively by bolts I3I and washers I32 and the rollers are aligned to feed bar stock into thequill I3 3, shear dies 88 and 95 and pass the end of the bar stock to the adjustable stop I34 keyed to the rocker shaft and held in place by set screw I35. 'Integral with the stop I34 is an eye I36 arranged to receive one end of the coil spring I37 and the opposite end of the coil spring is hooked through a hole I 38 in the I beam 36. The rocking gauge stop I3 3 is a form illustrated for large size. rods, however we do not wish'to be confined to the specific use thereof and an adjustable fixed stop not illustrated may be used on the frame 35 in its place especially for very small rods without departure from the present invention.

The shaft I29 is iournaled in the bearing I39 on the frame member 35 and bearing me on frame I28 and is driven by a bevel gear Iii arranged thereon to mesh with bevel gear MB.

A spur gear .I S2 is arranged on the lower end of the shaft I29 and meshes with gear M3 mounted on the lower end of shaft I39. The shaft is slightly pivoted with the bearing I45 at I65 and the gears It? and I43 are cut and arranged to take care of the slight movement. A sliding bearing Mt is arranged to receive the shaft I30 and is .arranged to slide in the guide housing It? bolted to one of the frames 35.

On one side of the slide bearing his is a spring M8, clamp M9, feed screw I59, handle nut Ia'iI to adjust the tension of the feed rolls and force the'turning rolls to feed the bar stock to the shears and stop. Opposing the spring on the opposite side of the bearing is an eccentric I52 pivoted in the frame It? at I53 and having an integral lever Iiitl thereon. The lever is fulcrumed' to the rod I55 at I't to be operated by the foot lever I5? pivoted to one of the lower frame members 29. The foot lever receiving the lower fulcrurned end I58 of rod I55 and is held in the released position shown by the spring I48.

A guide pan I59 is located between the upper -frame members 35 and is secured thereto with machine screws I 6B, the pan formed to guide blanks over one of the roller dies to the feed rods.

When it is desired to operate the ball rolling quill, and shears to the gauge stop where it re-' mains until that degree of the cycle of operation is reached to-discharge the balls from the rolls, then a blank is automatically sheared from the bar stock. The blank then falls by gravity to the guide pan I59 where it rolls over to the feed rods located between the rolls. The crossheads and feed rods then raise to the position shown in Figure 5 where the blank starts to enter the space between the feed rods and immediately the crosshead and feed rods move downwardly to the center line of the roller dies as shown in Figured, the blank then being on the center line of the roller dies between the roller dies and between the feeds rods. The roller dies are cut away at IGI to allow the blank to pass to the center line of the roller dies without the shear-ing and rolling forces of the roller dies acting thereon.

adjust the spacing of the roller While the crossheads and feed rods remain in the position shown in Figure 6 the roller dies revolve in the same direction gradually shearing and rolling the blank into multiple balls, the roller dies continue rolling and perfecting the spherical 6 shape of said .balls but just before a complete revolution of the rolls takes place the feedrods move downwardly to discharge the balls asshown 1 in Figure 7. The halls roll from the sloped surfaces I5 of the bottomfeed rods Ill. 10

It is obvious that the feed rolls feed the ba stock during one half of a cycle of operation by reason of the crank I03 and the ratchet wheel 7 III]. The ratchet turns a quarter of a revolution to one half revolution of thecam shaft. The 15 bevel gears H8 and MI are approximately proportioned to give the feed rolls the desired length of feed. When it is desired to stop the feed of bar stock without stopping the machine from operating, the operator places his foot .on the foot lever I5? and releases the spring tension on the feed rolls. The friction band I20 prevents idling of the feed rolls immediately after each ratchet feed. Feedroll I23 is driven through the spur ears are and M3. t 25 When it is desired to change rolls the four bolts 3% in the frame members 33 and 29, two bolts 8b in'rocker arm links, and four bolts I32 in frame members 29 and I26 are removed. An over-head crane is fastened to the upper frame 30 members by means of a chain not'shown and the crane removes the upper frame with its mechanisms, and lower bed frame and roller die bearing boxes remaining with the crosshead between the roller dies.

By spreading the bearing box segments the roller dies can be easily removed and replaced by the reverse of the operation hereinbefore described. When the upper frame is replaced on the lower frame members it may be necessary to dies slightly by the wedges it and $5 operated manually through the adjusting screws b i The feed rolls are also spread apart by the operator pressing his foot on lever I57 to allow a bar to enter between the rolls or-to remove a short or undesirable bar.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is:

v a frame, a pair of rolls, automatic means arranged on said frame to feed bar stock to said machine parallel to the axis of said rolls, a gauge arranged to gauge the length of said stock, automatic means arranged on said frame to shear said stock into blanks, and automatic means arranged in said frame to shear and roll each blank into multiple balls.

2; In a ball rolling machine the combination of a frame, automatic feeding mechanism arranged to feed bar stock thereto, means arranged on said frame adapted to'shear said stock to blanks, a pair of rolling dies arranged to receive therebetween said blanks to the center line of said roller dies without the shearing and rolling forces I 4- and shear a blank mm balls, Journals integral with said roller dies, alidably arranged bearings in said frame adapted to receive the jom'nals' of said roller dies, wedges arranged in said frame to adjust the space between said bearings, automatic means arranged to feed said blanks to the center line of said rolls without the rolling and shearing forces acting thereon, means adapted to roll and shear said blanks into balls, on nearly the entire periphery of said rolls, means arranged to discharge said balls from said roller dies, and said journal bearings held in a fixed position throughout the entire rolling and shearing operations.

4. In a ball rolling machine the combination of a frame, roller dies arranged in said frame to roll and shear a blank into balls, journals integral with said roller dies, slidably arranged bearings in said frame adapted to receive, the journals of said roller dies, adjustable wedges arranged in said frame to adjust the spacing between said bearings, and said bearings arranged in their respectively fixed positions when said roller dies shear and roll said balls.

5. In a ball rolling machine the combination of a frame, bearings, a pair of roller dies arranged in said bearings to roll and shear a blank into balls, automatic means to feed bar stock to said machine, automatic means to shear said stock into blanks, automatic means connected to and operated by said shearing means to feed said blanks and hold them to the center line of said roller dies, and means to hold said roller die bearing in a fixed position during the rolling and shearing of said blanks and balls.

6. In a ball rolling machine comprising a frame,

a pair of roller dies mounted therein, an upper and a lower crosshead arranged to slide in said frame at right angles to a center line through said roller dies, feed rods mounted therein to feed blanks to said roller dies, a rocking lever arranged on said frame, a link bar connecting said rocking lever to said upper crosshead, said upper crosshead secured to said lower crosshead, and means to operate said rocking lever. I

'7. In a ball rolling machine comprising a frame, a pair of roller dies mounted therein, a pair of crossheads arranged to slide in said frame at right angles to a center line through said roller dies, said crossheads bolted together, rods mounted therein to feed blanks to said roller dies, rocking levers arranged on said frame, link bars connecting said rocking levers to only one 20 edges of each die fitting said remaining shear 3 hrs edges of the opposite die.

FOKKO H. G. BRANDT. BENJABMN B. BOCKTING. 

